Play@YSDC

It's a misty, drizzly day when a motley set of adventurers set out to explore the abandoned amusement park. While Liz, Tony, and Lew go about the task of obtaining some kind of watercraft, allowing them to approach Fisherman's Cove from the sea, Zara, Bill, and Jack take the more obvious route and head for the main entrance.

Dominating the place where fun-seekers used to pay admission to Pacific Ocean Park is a futuristic sculpture topped by a pair of seahorses, much like the one painted by Zara. Nearby are two empty pools where fountains once played. The entrance to the park is blocked by padlocked turnstiles. This attempt to keep out trespassers hasn't always been successful, or so the locals say. There doesn't seem to be anyone around, or anything of particular interest outside the park, at least at first glance.

Meanwhile, the others find a small establishment called The Big Kahuna's Surf Shack where various watercraft are available for sale or rent, from surfboards to a row boat to a small powerboat, along with other nautical gear. The proprietor is a deeply tanned young man with shoulder-length blonde hair. From a cassette player comes the sound of Jan and Dean's hit from a few years ago, Ride the Wild Surf. The fellow looks at the arrivals and say "Help ya? Good day for fishin', lousy day for surfin'."

"Thank you," says Liz with a smile. "We'd like to rent a boat."

"OK. Got l'il ones, big ones. Whatcha need?"

"Oh, something with a motor that's big enough for three of us. Tell me, has anyone hired any boats or scuba gear recently? Maybe someone who struck you as a bit odd? Apart from us of course."

Tony smiles disarmingly.

Bill Ferris

Bill's head is still buzzing from whatever he took yesterday. The pair of seahorses are mildly freaking him out...

He tags along with the others. He has his small revolver and the trusty silver dagger hidden safely under his leather coat.

"If vagrants are getting in here they must have some kind of improvised entrance," Carson remarks outside the turnstiles. "Let's take a look around." He inspects the padlocks for any signs of damage.

jp1885 wrote:
"Oh, something with a motor that's big enough for three of us. Tell me, has anyone hired any boats or scuba gear recently? Maybe someone who struck you as a bit odd? Apart from us of course."

Tony smiles disarmingly.

"Oh, yeah. There was this dude that didn't talk American too good, even more than you don't. No offense. Funny kind of guy. Wore a big coat and hat and dark glasses, so you couldn't hardly see his face. Guess he wasn't used to the California sunshine, huh? Bought a bunch of diving stuff. No boat, though."

The proprietor points out a small motorboat on a dock visible from the shop.

"That's the Honolulu Babe. Twenty bucks a day, plus you pay for the gas and a fifty buck deposit, to make sure you don't steal her. Got a boating license?"

Rooter wrote:
"If vagrants are getting in here they must have some kind of improvised entrance," Carson remarks outside the turnstiles. "Let's take a look around." He inspects the padlocks for any signs of damage.

Jack's experience with this sort of trickery allows him to discover that somebody has manipulated one of the turnstiles in such a way that, if you push it just right, you can get in without leaving any obvious signs of entry.

Once inside, Zara follows Liz's suggestion and tries to identify the exact vantage corresponding to the view she painted.

Making fine use of her artist's skill of judging angles and distances, Zara is able to determine that her painting shows the seahorse tower from somewhere in the vicinity of the ride known as the Diving Bells.

Tony mulls over the description - it was entirely possible that Natasha had disguised herself as a man, but equally possible that it was someone else entirely.

"That's the Honolulu Babe. Twenty bucks a day, plus you pay for the gas and a fifty buck deposit, to make sure you don't steal her. Got a boating license?"

"It's er, in the post I believe. Perhaps my friend Lew here has one?" He looks at Lew hopefully. "Failing that, I'm sure we could mitigate such an oversight with some extra, um, I believe the vernacular is 'bread'?"

He opens his wallet.

"Oh, perhaps a pair of oars might be useful too, just in case."

Lew reaches into his coat pocket and takes out his wallet. Fishing inside, he pulls out two twenties and a ten and puts it on the counter.
"That boat will do just fine. Is there gas in the tank right now?" He says.

"The chap who bought the diving gear," says Liz, "about how tall was he, and how much do you think he weighed?"

The Big Kahuna accepts the money from both with a wink.

"Yep, gassed up and ready to go. Heck, I'll toss in the oars for free. Hope ya don't need 'em."
In response to Liz's question, he blinks his eyes and says, "Oh, I dunno. Average, I guess. Didn't really notice."

By this time the rain is coming down slightly harder, although it's still on the light side. It may occur to the group that, once they reach the pier below the Fisherman's Cove -- or, for that matter, any part of the defunct amusement park bordering on the ocean -- they will need to find a way to climb up to gain access.

Inside the park:



"OK, Miss James, let's head on over toward the Diving Bell and see if we can find this killer," Carson says skeptically. He pulls his collar up against the rain. "Hopefully we can get indoors, too. And keep an eye out for those two limeys, wherever they've gotten to. I don't trust em. I think they may be in cahoots with the Russkies."

The Diving Bells ride is aptly named. It consists of a pair of large metal structures, each with many portholes, which can hold several people at once. When it was in operation, it ducked the structures rapidly into the surrounding tank of water and back out again. Now the mechanism sits idly over the tank, with rain falling gently into the trash-filled water with a soft splash. All is quiet otherwise.

Tony pauses for a moment, wondering, after coming up with his amazing plan, just how he could execute it.

He asks the Big Kahuna chap if he has any rope, and, pushing his luck, some large hooks, so that the boat can be tethered to the wooden piles that hold up Fisherman's Cove. From there he can hopefully climb up and lower a rope down for the others.

Failng that they'll either have to motor around the park and look for a suitable place, or give up the idea and enter the park on land.

"Yeah, we got all kinds o' gear. Plenty of good, strong rope, grapplin' hooks, all that stuff. Lotta commercial fishin' 'round here." The proprietor grins. "'Course, it ain't cheap."

"Money is not an issue dear boy."

This is music to his ears, and the transactions are concluded successfully.